Jefferson Starship aims to douible fans' pleasure

Friday

To an era when music wasn’t sampled, but was written and then listened to on stereo systems with huge speakers.

To a time when bands had to earn their way up by touring incessantly, working their way up from clubs to arenas and then stadiums.

Jefferson Starship may have formed in 1975, but its roots go back to the late-1960s, when it was called Jefferson Airplane.

When the latest lineup of the band hits the stage Friday at Harrah’s Casino at 777 Harrah’s Blvd. in Chester, fans can expect to hear songs from both bands.

The Jefferson Starship lineup is best known for the tunes “Miracles,” “Count on Me,” “Jane” and “With Your Love,” but the later Starship lineup had hits with “We Built This City,” “Sara,” “Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now” and “It’s Not Over (’Til it’s Over).”

Recent sets by the band have included the songs “Volunteers,” “White Rabbit,” “Somebody to Love,” “Ride the Tiger” and “Jane,” but have also featured covers of hits by the Youngbloods, Quicksilver Messenger Service and Jeff Beck.

For those looking to add to their CD collections, the 2011 Jefferson Starship disc “Air Play” was taken from a 2009 concert and features early tunes “Lather,” “Have You Seen the Stars Tonight” and “3/5 of a Mile in 10 Seconds,” plus the folk covers “Wasn’t That a Time” and “Kisses Sweeter Than Wine” from the group’s 2008 “Tree of Liberty” album.

Show time: 8 p.m. Tickets: $20. Information: 800-480-8020.

JOHN SEBASTIAN

You don’t have to travel far to hear some great music from nationally renowned performers this weekend. There’s even a Rock and Roll Hall of Famer in town.

John Sebastian, founder of legendary 1960s pop act The Lovin’ Spoonful, performs at 8 p.m. Saturday at the New Hope Winery at 6123 Lower York Road in New Hope.

Sebastian’s only solo hit was “Welcome Back,” which reached No. 1 in 1976, but he enjoyed seven Top 10 hits with the Spoonful and was an influential performer in the 1960s. His unscheduled set at Woodstock is considered one of the more memorable moments of the concert.

I first saw Genesis back in 1974 when the group played the original Philadelphia Civic Center.

It was one of the band’s biggest venues on a tour to promote the album “The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway.”

To this day, it is one of the best shows I ever saw.

Why? Because Peter Gabriel had come up with a double-disc concept album that was musically and lyrically adventurous.

Add lots of costumes for Gabriel to act in, more than 1,100 slides projected behind the band and some outstanding pyrotechnics and other visual effects and you had a huge show.

Unfortunately, “The Lamb” album was ahead of its time. Genesis wasn’t even that popular outside of Philly and a few other East Coast cities.

The expensive tour was never filmed and audiences didn’t seem to get the concept. Gabriel left the band after the 1974-75 tour.

But the legend of that tour lives on with The Musical Box, a Canadian band that authentically reproduces early Genesis tours and appears Friday and Saturday at the Keswick Theatre at Easton Road and Keswick Avenue in Glenside.

Even better, the band has the blessing of Genesis and Peter Gabriel, who will tell you to go see this band if you want to know what Genesis was like in its years before Phil Collins made them a household name.

Genesis has even given The Musical Box the 1,100 slides from the 1974 tour to use on this “Lamb” show, while the group provides its own period instruments, costumes and props.

And although the songs “Carpet Crawlers,” “It,” “Lilywhite Lilith,” “In the Cage” and “Counting Out Time” still don’t get radio airplay today, you will marvel at their presentation in this 37-year-old tour. Also expect a couple of encore surprises.

Todd Rundgren has been making music since the late-1960s, having started out in Nazz (“Hello It’s Me”) and moved on to Runt (“We Gotta Get You a Woman”).

But after going solo in the early 1970s, Rundgren fronted a new band he dubbed Utopia.

Utopia was supposed to be ahead of the curve musically, but Rundgren still could pen hit singles like “Set Me Free” and “Feet Don’t Fail Me Now.”

He also created an entire album of Beatles-sounding tunes (“Deface the Music”) and half a disc of covers that sounded exactly like the originals (“Faithful”) with Utopia.

In the ensuing years, Rundgren’s music has popped up in movies by the Farrelly Brothers (“Kingpin,” “Dumb and Dumber”), the TV pilot for “That ’70s Show” and episodes of “Miami Vice” and “Nip/Tuck.”

Rundgren has recorded with and without Utopia and the band has even toured without him.

But on Saturday at the Tower Theater at 69th and Ludlow streets in Upper Darby (Rundgren’s hometown), the group will feature Kasim Sulton, Kevin Ellman, Jesse Gress, Moogy Klingman, Ralph Schuckett and John Siegler, as well as Rundgren.

This Utopia reunion tour consists of just 12 shows, 11 on the East Coast and one in Akron, Ohio.

Show time: 8 p.m. Tickets: $49.50 to $95. Information: 610-352-2887.

TRANS-SIBERIAN ORCHESTRA

The classical-rock band Trans-Siberian Orchestra may not have formed in the 1960s like the other acts highlighted today, but the group (which is an offshoot of the 1980s metal band Savatage) does sound like Emerson, Lake & Palmer, Yes and Brian Setzer combined.

TSO rose to fame in 1996 with “Christmas Eve and Other Stories,” adding a rock edge to classic Christmas fare and penning some originals to tell an entire story.

The band’s 1998 follow-up “The Christmas Attic” was just as popular, giving TSO the opportunity to tour nationally during the holidays.

The only problem was how to be everywhere during December.

Leader Paul O’Neill and Savatage’s Jon Oliva solved the dilemma by scheduling two TSO bands — one for each coast.

And although it has been two years since TSO released a new album (“Night Castle”) and seven years since the band issued “The Lost Christmas Eve” (the third part of its holiday trilogy), demand for the band’s holiday music hasn’t waned.

So check out its upbeat sound Saturday at the Wells Fargo Center at 3601 S. Broad St. in Philadelphia or Sunday at Hershey Park’s Giant Center at 950 W. HersheyPark Drive in Hershey.

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